Stories

Originally from Yokohama, Japan, architect Asako moved to Finland in 2010. Before that she designed buildings, but later became more interested in environmental and garden design. Following her curiosity, she decided to switch fields to garden design and began her entrepreneurial journey in Japan. Now she works as a light entrepreneur with Truster and wants to encourage others to give light entrepreneurship a try as well.

#“If you have an idea you want to bring to life, light entrepreneurship can be a great option. Be brave and give it a try.”

Light entrepreneurship is a great way to test your own business idea. Asako's own passion for garden design led her to turn it into her craft. As a Truster light entrepreneur, trying it out is also easy, and it opens your eyes to new possibilities in your working life.

Asako takes on garden design projects on the side and found that this works perfectly as light entrepreneurship. Light entrepreneurship has made it possible for her to do side work alongside her main job. Asako has been a light entrepreneur since 2016 and has been especially happy with it, as it fits well with her life situation. As a light entrepreneur, her work happens on weekday evenings or weekends.

As a garden designer, Asako creates balanced and harmonious gardens. If a client wants a Japanese garden, Asako can create an authentic one while taking Finnish conditions into account. She has taken part in many projects, helping create stunning environments. Asako's craftsmanship stands out, and her roots in Japan have brought unique ideas to her projects.

#“A Japanese atmosphere is created with stones and water.”

What warms Asako's heart most are good encounters with clients and the feedback she receives from them. She finds it fascinating to listen to clients' ideas and design gardens based on them. She draws inspiration for her garden designs from Finland's beautiful nature and the Scandinavian way of life. Finland is brimming with inspiration.

She conjures a Japanese atmosphere with, among other things, stones and water. The garden Asako designed for the 2022 housing fair shows just how well Finnish and Japanese style go together. In this project she emphasized that water doesn't have to be actual water — in this rock garden, gravel represented flowing water. In this kind of work, only imagination sets the limit.